Armchair Dragoons Forums

News:

  • Connections Online 2024 will be held 15-20 April, 2024 ~~ More Info here
  • Buckeye Game Fest will be held May 2-5, 2024, with The War Room opening on 29 April ~~ More Info here

News

Connections Online 2024 will be held 15-20 April, 2024 ~~ More Info here

Recent Posts

1
History and Tall Tales / Re: This Day in History
« Last post by besilarius on Today at 02:26:39 PM »
49 BC. Julius Caesar, who has the flu, visits Cicero at Formiae

845    The Vikings sack Paris

1584. Birth of Ivan the Terrible.  Although largely remembered for the homicidal paranoia that came to characterize his reign in later years, while a young man Ivan the Terrible (r. 1547-1584), like a number of other rulers across history – most famously the Caliph Haroun al-Rashid – was wont to go among his people in disguise to get a sense of what they were thinking, an early form of polling one might say.
Once, while visiting a village near Moscow dressed as a beggar, he found no one who would give him lodging for the night, save a poor family. By chance, that very night the poor man’s wife gave birth. Taking his leave the next morning, the Tsar returned shortly in full regalia with numerous dignitaries in train, to hand out generous gifts to his hosts, and become the godfather of their newborn, while ordering the rest of the people of the village to be turned out of their homes, which he promptly burned down to remind them of their obligations to the poor..
Apparently during many of his adventures, Ivan found congenial companions in the company of common criminals.
On one such occasion, the Tsar proposed robbing the Imperial treasury, telling them that he knew how to get inside, which was true enough.
Hardly had he said this than the chief of the gang of thieves with which he was consorting gave him a playful punch in the face, saying, in effect, “Rogue, you want to rob the Tsar, who has been so good to us? Why not rob some rich boyar who is screwing His Imperial Majesty’s subjects out of vast sums?”
Pleased at the response, Ivan swapped caps with the man, and suggested they meet on the morrow at a place in Moscow near the palace, to share a cup of vodka and a meal. The thief readily agreed.
The thief showed up at the appointed place and time, to find, not his roguish companion of the night before, but the Tsar himself holding out a mug of vodka.
As they downed the liquor, Ivan ordered the thief to steal no more, appointed him to a post at court, and assigned him to ferret out criminals.

 1757. Robert Francois Damiens, executed at 42, by skinned, doused with molten lead, castrated, and drawn and quartered, for attempting to kill Louis XV of France

1799  NY State initiates the abolition of slavery, which is completed in 1827

1800  USS Essex becomes first U.S. Navy vessel to pass Cape of Good Hope

1814. HMS Phoebe (36) and HMS Cherub (18) under Cptn. James Hillyar capture USS Essex (46), Cptn. David Porter, off Valparaiso, Chile.

1855, during the planning for the Anglo-French invasion of the Crimea, Empress Eugénie of France is reported to have consulted her husband’s late uncle, the real Napoleon, for guidance, through the use of a Ouija board.

1940. During World War II the Spanish Ambassador to Britain was the Duke of Alba, Jacobo Maria del Pilar Carlos Manuel Fitz-James Stuart, a direct descendant of the deposed Stuart kings of England, though via an illegitimate line.

1942  Operation Chariot: Nocturnal RN/RM commando raid blocks the 'Normandie' dock in Nazi-occupied St Nazaire; five VCs awarded
     Sergeant Thomas Frank Durrant, Royal Engineers. During the famous British naval raid on St. Nazaire, France, on the night of March 27-28, 1942, Sgt. Durrant (1918-1942) was serving with No. 1 Commando, manning a dual-mounted Lewis gun on HM Motor Launch 306. Proceeding up the Loire River, the boat came under heavy fire from the German destroyer Jaguar, which greatly outclassed her. She was hit repeatedly, and Durrant was wounded several times. Twice the Germans summoned the boat to surrender and were refused. Finally the launch was boarded and those who were still alive were taken prisoner, among them Sgt Durrant, who had been wounded 16 times. He died of his wounds on the 29th. Speaking with the prisoners, Kapitänleutnant F.K Paul, commander of the Jaguar, commended them for their gallant fight, and singled out Durrant for special praise. Acting with Paul’s comment in mind, Durrant’s commanding officer, Lieutenant R. O. C. Swayne, initiated the process that led to the award of the V.C. to Sgt. Durrant. Durrant also has the distinction of being the only British soldier to have won the V.C. while serving with the Royal Navy.

2
Age of Gunpowder / Re: Beat To Quarters
« Last post by Sir Slash on Today at 11:06:24 AM »
This is the kind of game I would've gone missing for days over way back there.  :D
3
Sci-fi & Fantasy Warfare / Re: 7 Days to Die
« Last post by Henr_YYY on Today at 10:41:40 AM »
Does anyone here still play the game? I'm renting a private server, and I'm looking for friends to play the game with me. The server has 32 slots and it can have infinite world size
4
Age of Gunpowder / Beat To Quarters
« Last post by bayonetbrant on Today at 10:04:55 AM »
#TBT ~ Beat To Quarters: Ephemera and Obscura, Part the First

Quote
My interest in the Age of Sail started by sheer accident when I found a copy of Oliver Warner’s Great Sea Battles (MacMillan Company, NY. 1968) on the restocking trolley at the Chinook Public Library in Calgary, circa 1978.  Not long after, I bought Avalon Hill’s venerable Wooden Ships and Iron Men.  Unfortunately, this was about the same time my gaming buddies Discovered Girls, so my copy went mostly un-played and un-punched, save for a few solo games.  Undaunted, I continued to buy other age of sail games, including Beat to Quarters by Command Perspectives.


https://wp.me/pae4WL-8UB


5
Intel Dump / 5 Questions With . . . Kevin Zucker
« Last post by bayonetbrant on Yesterday at 08:41:52 PM »
5 Questions With… Designer Kevin Zucker
Kevin Zucker has been designing games for over 45 years. Mr. Zucker’s current project is The Complete Library of Napoleonic Battles. Mr. Zucker graciously took the time to participate in a 5 Question interview with the Armchair Dragoons.


https://www.armchairdragoons.com/articles/interviews/5qzucker/



6
History and Tall Tales / Re: This Day in History
« Last post by bbmike on Yesterday at 02:56:58 PM »
...
The President’s affection for cats once led to a minor tiff with Mrs. Lincoln, who was often unhappy about what she perceived to be his lack of appropriate dignity.
Reportedly, during dinner at the White House one evening, Lincoln used a gold fork from the presidential service to feed a cat named “Tabby.”
Mrs. Lincoln asked, perhaps rhetorically, “Don’t you think it’s shameful for Mr. Lincoln to feed Tabby with a gold fork?”
The President replied, “If the gold fork was good enough for former President James Buchanan, I think it is good enough for Tabby.”

 ;D
7
4X Gaming / Re: Millennia by Paradox
« Last post by bbmike on Yesterday at 01:25:08 PM »
Yeah, it's funny, working me would have bought this on day one. Retired, budget-conscious me has yet to pull the trigger.  ;D
I've been reading and watching reviews and it looks like it might be time to buy. I'm a bit worried that diplomacy in the game is lacking but that seems to be normal for 4x games these days. And then if I do buy, do I step up to the Expansion Pass bundle?
8
History and Tall Tales / Re: This Day in History
« Last post by besilarius on Yesterday at 12:22:22 PM »
47   BC   Ptolemy XIII of Egypt (c. 15), brother and husband to Cleopatra, drowned in the Nile fleeing Caesar's troops

1794. Congress authorizes construction of 6 frigates, including Constitution

1804. From December, the month Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France, and July of 1806, there were 119 recorded incidents of anti-draft disturbances in the country, with desertions averaging about 800 a month and an officially estimated 4,000 men actually fled to Spain to evade service.

1813. The Duke of Wellington was a notably effective logistical manager, and despite great difficulties his troops were usually better equipped and supplied than those of his French opponents.
This was no mean feat.
Consider the logistical requirements of a cavalry regiment.  On paper cavalry regiments had 407 personnel, organized into six troops, plus a staff, with 478 horses and mules, including mounts for troopers plus draught animals for the baggage, service, and munitions wagons.
To feed the men each day required 407 pounds of biscuit, 407 of meat, and 407 rations of alcoholic beverages, or some 200 pounds of booze, if one included the cask, and omitting additional rations allocated to officers
Feeding the animals required a daily ration of 4,780 pounds of grain, plus 5,786 of hay or straw, not to mention water, which could, with a little luck, be obtained locally.
As the normal issue of ration was three days’ worth, the regiment had to carry a minimum of 12,642 pounds of food and drink for the men, plus 31,698 for the animals.
And then there was a daily fire wood ration of 1,586 pounds, for a three day total of 4,758 pounds, plus additional for the officers.
So the total weight of three days’ rations for a full regiment -- men and beasts, food, drink, and fire wood -- came to roughly 25 tons, if one includes additional allocations for officers.
All this was usually transported by pack mules.  Since commissariat mules commonly could only carry only 200 pounds, 246 mules were needed.  And since the mules had to be fed, a at least four more mules would be required to carry the grain and hay needed for the commissary animals each day.
Now although Wellington's cavalry was often better fed, and usually better mounted, than that of his French opponents, the Duke often remarked that the French seemed to get much better service from their troops.  This was perhaps because  nearly half -- 45.1 percent -- of the officers in the British cavalry had obtained their commissions through purchase, in contrast to only about 18 percent of those in the infantry regiments, and none at all in the French cavalry..

1865. Lincoln, generals Grant and Sherman, and admiral Porter met on the steamer 'River Queen' to plan the end of the Civil War -  President Lincoln was very fond of cats.  So much so that once while en route to a conference with General-in-Chief U.S. Grant and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, he picked up three stray kittens and took them into the meeting.  Grant’s aide Horace Porter reported that it was a "curious sight at an army headquarters, upon the eve of a great military crisis" to see the president "tenderly caressing three stray kittens” as he discussed strategy with his commanders.
The President’s affection for cats once led to a minor tiff with Mrs. Lincoln, who was often unhappy about what she perceived to be his lack of appropriate dignity.
Reportedly, during dinner at the White House one evening, Lincoln used a gold fork from the presidential service to feed a cat named “Tabby.”
Mrs. Lincoln asked, perhaps rhetorically, “Don’t you think it’s shameful for Mr. Lincoln to feed Tabby with a gold fork?”
The President replied, “If the gold fork was good enough for former President James Buchanan, I think it is good enough for Tabby.”
9
4X Gaming / Re: Millennia by Paradox
« Last post by Barthheart on Yesterday at 12:17:18 PM »
Soooo.... who's in? I'm not because of gaming budget explosion problems this month,  :silly: , but soon....
10
Intel Dump / Re: Tuesday Newsday! Weekly dump of wargaming news
« Last post by JudgeDredd on March 26, 2024, 04:02:20 PM »
Yay - I don't care what the other guys say - I think you're alright, Brant  ;D